Moving to Silver Spring (Bethesda, Olney: rent, safe area, university)

[vidha6]

I'm moving to Silver Spring in the next few weeks from California and need to get some information on the area. I've read most (if not all) of the posts regarding safe areas, neighborhoods to avoid, ideal places to live, "bad" and good zip codes etc., but I'm still overwhelmed. The responses have run the gamut from White Oak's bad/White Oak's okay, no on New Hampshire, safe inside the Beltway, stay away from the East, West, North, South side of town (Which one is it?) to Silver Spring is safe--get over it. To make it easier, here's what I'm looking for:

Relatively safe area that is close enough to downtown. I won't have a car, and don't want to spend an hour on a bus to get to work. I define safe pretty loosely, and just because an area has a large immigrant population doesn't automatically make it unsafe or undesirable to me. I'm an Asian male and grew up in a city with large mix of Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, and Asians--I can deal with diversity. Additionally, reading the posts, I've come across concerns about crime, drugs, gangs, and shootings (all things I've also seen and can handle), and realize it's unavoidable. I'm not looking for a cop on every corner, just a place where if these things do happen, I won't get hassled walking alone down the street. Essentially, I want to minimize my chances of getting mugged. And yes, I'm aware that common sense plays a large part in avoiding this but it still happens (speaking from personal experience), and I'd prefer to live in a good place while I'm familiarizing myself with the people and area of Silver Spring.

Here are the areas if been offered a place:

- Royalton Rd & University Blvd
- Eastern Silver Spring, just off the beltway at New Hampshire Ave
- Powder Mill Rd (with Fort Totten, Takoma, and Greenbelt metros nearby)
- New Hampshire Rd & Randolph Rd (College Park. This arrangement seems ideal if i get it, but will it be a hassle getting to downtown Silver Spring on public transit?)

Sorry for the long post. Any help/clarification anyone can provide is greatly appreciated.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by vidha6

Here are the areas if been offered a place:
- Powder Mill Rd (with Fort Totten, Takoma, and Greenbelt metros nearby)
- New Hampshire Rd & Randolph Rd (College Park. This arrangement seems ideal if i get it, but will it be a hassle getting to downtown Silver Spring on public transit?)

I'm only commenting on what I know.

Powder Mill Rd. is not really near to any of those stations, although Powder Mill at one end isn't too far from Greenbelt, but housing there is sparse. The other end splits, withone fork becoming Riggs rd. which goes right by Fort Totten Station. Powder Mill follows the right fork to NH ave. Nowhere on it's route is it really close to any Metro Stations, but there are probably bus lines on NH Ave.

NH & Randolph is not in College Park at all. College Park is a few miles down Cherry Hill rd (Randolph rd.). Anyways, I do believe there are bus lines going down NH Ave that take you to Silver Spring and/or Takoma Park. I don't think it will be a hassle at all, since the area is probably part of a Silver Spring zip code. It's not that far to downtown SS or Takoma Park from there.

[vidha6]

Originally Posted by dkf747

I'm only commenting on what I know.

Powder Mill Rd. is not really near to any of those stations, although Powder Mill at one end isn't too far from Greenbelt, but housing there is sparse. The other end splits, withone fork becoming Riggs rd. which goes right by Fort Totten Station. Powder Mill follows the right fork to NH ave. Nowhere on it's route is it really close to any Metro Stations, but there are probably bus lines on NH Ave.

NH & Randolph is not in College Park at all. College Park is a few miles down Cherry Hill rd (Randolph rd.). Anyways, I do believe there are bus lines going down NH Ave that take you to Silver Spring and/or Takoma Park. I don't think it will be a hassle at all, since the area is probably part of a Silver Spring zip code. It's not that far to downtown SS or Takoma Park from there.

Thank you for clearing things up. This is actually very helpful. I'm doing the best I can to piece together information given by the individuals I've contacted about housing. Some share exact location details while other are more vague in their responses.

If there are any other inconsistencies in the locations I've posted, please let me know.

[NJ2MDdude]

Where will you be working?

[vidha6]

Originally Posted by NJ2MDdude

Where will you be working?

In upper Georgia Ave. A location in downtown SS is ideal but I can't afford it with the stipend they're paying me (it's an internship), so I'm looking for a location close enough that's within my budget.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by vidha6

In upper Georgia Ave. A location in downtown SS is ideal but I can't afford it with the stipend they're paying me (it's an internship), so I'm looking for a location close enough that's within my budget.

Upper Georgia Ave means near 495 right? If it means closer to wheaton then my earlier info wouldn't help. the NH and Randoph location shoiuld have bus routes heading down Randolph to Georgis, where you could get on one going close to your job, or get on the Metro at Glenmont. I haven't looked on wmata.com to check bus routes though. You should go to that site and try the ride guide on it on the upper right.

[NJ2MDdude]

Originally Posted by vidha6

In upper Georgia Ave. A location in downtown SS is ideal but I can't afford it with the stipend they're paying me (it's an internship), so I'm looking for a location close enough that's within my budget.

OK. Georgia Ave is Route 97. If you're going to rely on Metro for transportation, I'd suggest looking for a place somewhere on Metro's Red Line between Takoma Park and Glenmont. The Takoma stop is in DC, adjacent to Silver Spring and Glenmont is located in the upper Georgia Ave area.

Here's a map of the Metro system:

Metro - Metrorail System Map

You may want to check out Craigslist for a temp apt.

[CHIP72]

The exact location of your job will dictate to some degree the best locations for you to live. You'll not only want to live in a relatively safe location, but also in a location that requires one bus route to get you to/from work if possible.

One positive about the (downtown) Silver Spring area is that there are many, many bus lines that serve the area. You may want to look at both the WMATA (Metrobus) and Ride On websites to get a sense of what bus routes are close to where you'll be working. IF you are working in downtown Silver Spring, locations further out (i.e. potentially cheaper locations) near stops/stations for the MTA commuter bus Routes 915 and/or 929 and the MARC Brunswick Line also become possibilities.

For what it's worth, in terms of bus lines serving Georgia Avenue, the Metrobus routes 70/71/79 all run on Georgia Avenue between downtown Silver Spring (i.e. near the Metrorail station) and downtown DC. North of downtown Silver Spring, the Y series Metrobus routes (Y5/Y7/Y8/Y9) all run on Georgia Avenue between downtown SS and areas pretty far to the north (I believe as far north as Olney) in Montgomery County, MD. The Metrobus Q2 route also runs along Georgia Avenue between the Silver Spring and Wheaton Metrorail stations.

[cometz]

check out craigslist dc. also dc city paper. lots of listings for shared spaces. dc area is crawling with interns in your situation and they often rent great spaces for cheap. if you don't mind sharing that's my best recommendation.

[deb123]

I am moving to Bethesda,MD from Denver,CO next month. I am looking for a rented apt in Silver Spring area. I liked an apt in featherwood court (i.e. the st address), the rent and the apt works fine for me. I want to know more about the locality. Can anybody please tell me how safe the locality is. My work location would be in Bethesda and I'll take public transport to go to work, so what is the best way to commute between these two places?